Malk, I downloaded GIMP a while back and its seems like a great program. Only problem I had is that the help section(instruction manual) is only available online. It gets real tough to jump back and forth trying to learn a program. If you were willing to download and print the whole "manual" it would be a lot of ink.
Seems like an excellent program, and darn sure cheaper than photoshop.
Even "WORD". or MS Publisher would be good, but the main drawback there is you cant "layer", and you sure dont have the control as far as contrast, cropping, etc.
I forgot which one Wade uses, he just told us too!! But I looked at it a bit and it was well less than $100, and you can do alot with it.
When it comes to free software for doing things like wine labels, photo manipulation, etc. There are very very very few ones.( I spent a long time looking for one on line, trying to get a "free ride"). Not much out there. But if you are serious about a program to do the above mentioned, a more low key publishing/printing program may very well be worth the investment.
If you're not computer saavy, there are indeed some great resources for you to pay to have someone else do it. (You could always find a teeneger!!! No joke. They seem to be more computer saavy then I wil ever be, and I have been messing around with them for almost 30 YRS!!)
Troy